Method and system for fault resilience in networks with audio/video bridging aware shortest path bridging

ABSTRACT

A first network device may select a plurality of network paths for establishing a plurality of network connections to a second network device. The selection may be based on support of IEEE Audio Video Bridging (AVB) protocols. The first network device may establish at least one of the plurality of connections over each of the selected network paths. The first network device may concurrently transmit and/or receive a plurality of data streams via the established plurality of network connections. At least a second one of the plurality of data streams may comprise data that is redundant to a first one of the plurality of data streams. One of the plurality of network connections may be selected for conveying a primary data stream based on determined path costs of the plurality of network paths, where non-AVB links may be assigned higher path costs than AVB link.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/963,087 filed on Dec. 21, 2007.

The above stated application is hereby incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to networking. Morespecifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a methodand system for fault resilience in Audio/Video Bridging aware ShortestPath Bridging (SPB) networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An increasing amount of data, and in particular multimedia content,transmitted over networks has led to much research into ways to improvethe quality and reliability of streaming data over bridged local areanetworks. Accordingly, the IEEE is in the process of standardizing asuite of protocols, and extensions thereto, collectively known as AudioVideo Bridging (AVB). The individual protocols include, among others,IEEE P802.1AS—IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan AreaNetworks—Timing and Synchronization for Time-Sensitive Applications inBridged Local Area Networks, IEEE P801.1Qat—IEEE Standard for Local andMetropolitan Area Networks: Virtual Bridged Local AreaNetworks—Amendment 9: Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP) and IEEEP802.1Qav: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks:Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 31: Forwarding and Queuingfor Time-Sensitive Streams.

Applications of Audio/Video Bridging protocols include streamingcompressed and/or uncompressed Audio and/or Video between various piecesof equipment. An exemplary transmission may comprise streaminguncompressed audio from an Audio/Video receiver to multiple NetworkedSpeakers over an Ethernet network. In this regard, it may be necessarythat the rendering of Audio in all speakers is synchronized so as not toaffect the listener's experience. In this manner, the audio videobridging protocols are likely to be deployed in situations where qualityof service is paramount to the user experience.

Another protocol utilized extensively in today's communication networkis Shortest Path Bridging (SPB). In this regard, SPB may be utilized toestablish paths across a network while eliminating redundant paths orloops. In this regard, redundant paths may cause routing tables to failsince one address may be seen at multiple ports. Additionally, redundantpaths may result in broadcast storms, where packets are forwarded in anendless loop, consuming processing resources and bandwidth.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for fault resilience in Audio/VideoBridging (AVB) aware Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) networks,substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at leastone of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary AVB enabled Audio/Videoequipment that may transmit and/or receive data over a network, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the transmission and reception ofmultiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may compriseredundant data to and/or from AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) networkcomprising AVB enabled and non-AVB enabled nodes, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 a is a diagram illustrating redundant paths for fault resiliencyin an AVB aware Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) network, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 b is a diagram illustrating fault recovery in an AVB awareShortest Path Bridging (SPB) network, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor fault resilience in Audio/Video Bridging (AVB) aware Shortest PathBridging (SPB) networks. In this regard, a path cost, which may be basedat least on AVB compatibility, may be determined for each network pathdiscovered between a first network node and a second network node.Additionally, a plurality of network paths may be selected based on thedetermined path cost, and a plurality of network connections may beestablished over the selected plurality of network paths. Also, aplurality of data streams may be transmitted and/or received via theestablished network connections, wherein at least one of data streamscomprises data that is redundant to a first data stream. Furthermore, aprimary data stream may be conveyed via a first network connection andone or more redundant data streams may be conveyed via a second networkconnection. A network connection that is to be utilized to convey aprimary data stream may be selected based on said determined path cost.A routing table may be generated for the discovered network paths andmay comprise the determined path costs and AVB compatibility. Uponfailure of one or more of said chosen network paths an alternate networkpath may be selected from the routing table for establishing a newnetwork connection. Aspects of the invention may enable assigning afirst stream identifier to a first of a plurality of data streams, andassigning an additional unique stream identifier to each of the at leasta second of the plurality of data streams that comprises data that isredundant to the first of said plurality of data streams, wherein eachof said additional unique stream identifiers differs from said firststream identifier. The plurality of data streams may be buffered and/orprocessed based on sequencing information associated with the pluralityof data streams, and/or based on determined path costs.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary AVB enabled Audio/Videoequipment that may transmit and/or receive data over a network, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1,there is shown AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 that comprises ahost 106 a and a network interface hardware (NIHW) device 114. The NIHWdevice 114 may further comprise a medium access control (MAC) controller108 a and a transceiver 104, to enable communication over a network. Invarious embodiments of the invention, the network may, for example,utilize Ethernet technology and may communicate over one or more twistedpair channels or a wireless channel. In various embodiments of theinvention, the AVB enabled A/V equipment may comprise, for example, amicrophone, an instrument, a sound board, a sound card, a video camera,a media player, a graphics card, or other audio and/or video device.

The transceiver 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may enable communication, for example, transmission and receptionof data, between the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 and anetwork. The transceiver 110 a may support, for example, Ethernetoperations. The transceiver 110 a may enable multi-rate communications,such as 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps (or 1 Gbps), 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, 10Gbps, 40 Gbps, and/or 100 Gbps, for example. In this regard, thetransceiver 110 may support standard-based data rates and/ornon-standard data rates. Moreover, the transceiver 110 a may supportstandard Ethernet link lengths or ranges of operation and/or extendedranges of operation.

The transceiver 110 may be configured to handle all the physical layerrequirements, which include, but are not limited to, packetization, datatransfer, and serialization/deserialization (SERDES), in instances wheresuch an operation is required. Additionally, in order to support AVBprotocols, the transceiver 110 may be enabled to generate timestampscorresponding to the transmission and/or reception of data. Data packetsreceived by the transceiver 110 a from the MAC controller 108 a mayinclude data and header information for each of the above six functionallayers. The transceiver 110 may be configured to encode data packetsthat are to be transmitted over a network and/or to decode data packetsreceived from a network.

The data transmitted and/or received by the transceiver 110 a may beformatted in accordance with the well-known OSI protocol standard. TheOSI model partitions operability and functionality into seven distinctand hierarchical layers. Generally, each layer in the OSI model isstructured so that it may provide a service to the immediately higherinterfacing layer. For example, layer 1, or physical (PHY) layer, mayprovide services to layer 2 and layer 2 may provide services to layer 3.The data transmitted may comprise frames of Ethernet media independentinterface (MII) data which may be delimited by start of stream and endof stream delimiters, for example.

The host 106 may represent layer 3 and above, the MAC controller 108 mayrepresent layer 2 and above and the transceiver 110 may represent theoperability and/or functionality of layer 1 or the PHY layer. In thisregard, the transceiver 110 a may be referred to as a PHY device or aPHY transceiver, for example. The host 106 a may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable operability and/orfunctionality of the five highest functional layers for data packetsthat are to be transmitted over a network. Since each layer in the OSImodel provides a service to the immediately higher interfacing layer,the MAC controller 108 may provide the necessary services to the host106 a to ensure that packets are suitably formatted and communicated tothe transceiver 110. During transmission, each layer may add its ownheader to the data passed on from the interfacing layer above it. Duringreception, a compatible device having a similar OSI stack may strip offthe headers as the message passes from the lower layers up to the higherlayers.

The MAC controller 108 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable handling of data link layer, layer 2, operabilityand/or functionality in the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100.Accordingly, the MAC controller 108 may be configured to implementEthernet protocols, such as those based on the IEEE 802.3 standard, forexample. Similarly, the MAC controller 108 may be enabled to implementAVB protocols such as IEEE 801.1Qat and IEEE 802.1Qav. Additionally, theMAC controller 108 may be enabled to communicate the AVB compatibilityof the AVB enabled equipment 100. In this regard, the MAC controller maysupport the discovery of network paths that are AVB enabled, and mayenable determining and/or assigning a path cost to each network path. Inthis regard, AVB compatibility may be factored into a paths cost.Accordingly, possible paths across a network may be determined, sortedaccording to path cost, and stored to a memory device. Additionaldetails of discovering network topology and link costs are describedwith respect to FIG. 3 below.

The MAC controller 108 may communicate with the transceiver 110 a via aninterface 118 and with the host 106 via a bus controller interface 116.The interface 118 may correspond to an Ethernet interface that comprisesprotocol and/or link management control signals. The interface 118 maybe a multi-rate interface and/or media independent interface (MII). Thebus controller interface 116 a may correspond to a PCI or PCI-Xinterface. Notwithstanding, the invention is not limited in this regard.

In operation, an end system may communicate across a network with asecond end system. In this regard, aspects of the invention may enabledetermining a least cost AVB enabled path between the two end systems.In this regard, the two end systems and any intermediary nodescomprising a network may be similar to the A/VB enabled equipment 100.

In various embodiments of the invention, AVB enabled NV equipment 100may comprise multiple transceivers 110, MAC controllers 108, and/orports for communicating over a network. In this manner, the AVB enabledA/V equipment 100 may be enabled to simultaneously transmit/receivemultiple streams, to/from one or more networks. Moreover, the AVBenabled equipment 100 may be enabled to receive redundant data streamsand intelligently select which stream to render/present. In this regard,processing of received redundant streams may be based, at least in part,on costs associated with paths over which the streams are received.Additional details of transmitting and receiving redundant streams aredescribed with respect to FIG. 2 below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the transmission and reception ofmultiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may compriseredundant data to and/or from AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2, thenetwork 200 may comprise network paths 214 a and 214 b and AVB enabledAudio/Video equipment 201 a and 201 b. In the exemplary embodimentshown, the AVB enable A/V equipment may comprise a sound mixer 201 a andan audio recorder 201 b. Each of the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment201 a and 201 b may comprise a host 202 and a network interface hardware(NIHW) device 204. In this regard, the hosts 201 a and 201 b may besimilar to or the same as the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100disclosed in FIG. 1. The host 202 a may comprise a central processingunit (CPU) 206 a, a memory 208 a, and a chipset 210 a. The CPU 206 a,the memory 208 a, and the chipset 210 a may be communicatively coupledvia, for example, a bus 212 a. Similarly, the host 202 b may comprise acentral processing unit (CPU) 206 b, a memory 208 b, and a chipset 210b. The CPU 206 b, the memory 208 b, and the chipset 210 b may becommunicatively coupled via, for example, a bus 212 b.

The hosts 202 a and 202 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable high reliability transmission and/or reception ofstreaming data over a network. In this regard, the host 202 a and 202 bmay be enabled to interface with the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b,respectively. In this manner, the hosts 202 a and 202 b may enableutilizing multiple network paths, such as the network paths 214 a and214 b, to transmit and/or receive multiple data streams, wherein one ormore of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this manner, thehosts 202 a and 202 b may enable reliable transmission, reception,and/or presentation of, for example, multimedia content in the presenceof dropped/delayed packets and/or network hardware failures.Accordingly, the hosts 202 a and 202 b may enable the utilization and/orsupport of protocols such as IEEE 802.1AS to synchronize network nodes,and/or IEEE 802.1Qat to reserve resources in a network.

The CPUs 206 a and 206 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable the transmission of multiple data streams, whereinone or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, over a network.In this regard, the CPU 206 a may interface with the memory 208 a and/orthe chipset 210 a to enable transmission of multiple streams over acorresponding number of network paths. Similarly, the CPU 206 b mayinterface with the memory 208 b and/or the chipset 210 b to enabletransmission of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of thestreams may comprise redundant data, over a corresponding number ofnetwork paths. Accordingly, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may, for example,enable utilizing multiple pointers to a data buffer in order to outputmultiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may compriseredundant data. In this regard, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may enable thepacketization of, for example, streaming multimedia content into one ormore transport streams, and may packetize the same content multipletimes. Additionally, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may enable assigning aunique stream identifier to each stream, and this stream ID, forexample, may be placed in a header field of the transport packets. Forexample, the transport stream may be an MPEG transport stream and thestream ID may be carried in a “packet ID” field. Additionally, eachtransport packet may comprise sequencing information such as a precisionclock reference, a decode timestamp, and a presentation time stamp.

The CPUs 206 a and 206 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable the reception of multiple data streams, wherein oneor more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this regard,multiple transport packets may comprise, for example, the samemultimedia content. Accordingly, if a packet comprising a first streamis lost/corrupted it may be replaced with a corresponding redundantpacket comprising a second stream. The CPU 206 a may interface with thememory 208 a and/or the chipset 210 a to enable identification ofmultiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may compriseredundant data, and to enable determination of which stream's data toutilize for rendering/presentation. Similarly, the CPU 206 b mayinterface with the memory 208 b and/or the chipset 210 b to enableidentification of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of thestreams may comprise redundant data, and to enable determination ofwhich stream's data to utilize for rendering/presentation. In thisregard, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may be enabled to detect multiple datastreams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data,via the unique stream identifier assigned to each stream. Additionally,sequencing information comprising the received streams may be utilizedto determine if packets have been dropped and/or corrupted from the datastreams.

The memories 208 a and 208 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable storage of information regarding thenetworking operations and/or service applications supported by the CPU206 a and 206 b and/or the chipsets 210 a and 210 b, respectively.Accordingly, the memories 208 a and 208 b may, for example, enablebuffering received data and/or storing instructions that may be executedby the processor 206 a and 206 b and/or the chipsets 210 a and 210 b,respectively. Also, the memories 208 a and 208 b may enable bufferingone or more copies of data to be transmitted. In this regard, thememories 208 a and 208 b may enable replicating data to supporttransmission of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of thestreams may comprise redundant data. Additionally, the memories 208 aand 208 b may store a routing table or similar data structureidentifying possible paths across the network 200 and path costsassociated with each path.

The chipsets 210 a and 210 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable supporting of memory management, PCI masterand arbitrator, graphics interface, I/O master for USB, audio, and/orperipheral devices, for example. In this regard, the chipset 210 maycomprise at least one integrated circuit (IC) that provides services insupport of the CPU 206 operations. In this regard, the chipset may, forexample, enable encoding/decoding, compressing/decompressing, rendering,and/or presenting multimedia data. In some instances, the servicesprovided by the chipsets 210 a and 210 b may be implemented in separateICs. The choice of one or more ICs for implementing the chipsets 210 aand 210 b may be based on the number and/or type of services provided.

The NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable acting as an interface between a network andthe hosts 202 a and 202 b, respectively. In this regard, the NIHWdevices 204 a and 204 b may enable receiving, for example, streamingmultimedia content from the multiple network paths 214 a and 214 b andmay enable communicating the data to the hosts 202 a and 202 b,respectively. Similarly, the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may enablereceiving data from the hosts 202 a and 202 b, respectively, andtransmitting the data onto multiple network paths, such as the paths 214a and 214 b. Accordingly, the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may besimilar to or the same as the NIHW device 114 disclosed in FIG. 1.

In an exemplary operation, the host 202 b may request multimedia contentfrom the host 202 a. The hosts 202 a and 202 b may first synchronize toone another utilizing a standard such as IEEE 802.1AS. The host 202 bmay utilize a protocol such as IEEE 802.1Qat to reserve resources overeach of the network paths 214 a and 214 b. In this regard, the paths 214a and 214 b may each comprise one or more network links and one or moreintermediate network nodes. In this regard, the network paths 214 a and214 b may, respectively, traverse network clouds 220 a and 220 b.Accordingly, aspects of the invention may enable choosing the paths 214a and 214 b based on determined costs for each available path from node202 a to node 202 b. For example, the path 214 a may comprise a leastcost path between a first port on the NIHW 204 a and a first port on theNIHW 204 b, while the path 214 b may comprise a least cost path betweena second port on the NIHW 204 a and a second port on the NIHW 204 b. Inan exemplary embodiment of the invention, the path cost of path 214 amay be less cost than the path cost of path 214 b, and thus 214 a may beselected as a primary path. In various embodiments of the invention,path 214 a and 214 b may, for example, be separate from each other inthat no network links between hosts 202 a and 202 b are shared. Althoughseparate paths may provide better fault protection in the event of afailure, the paths may comprise one or more common links if completelyseparate paths are not possible. For example, a piece of AVB enabled A/Vequipment may be capable of only connecting to a single physical link.Also, the two paths may, for example, be independent of each other inthat transmission of data over path 214 a is not contingent on and/ordepend on the type, status, or any other characteristics of the path 214b. Although independent paths may provide better fault protection in theevent of a failure, certain instances may arise where completelyindependent paths are not possible, for example, when a piece of AVBenabled A/V equipment comprises only a single network port. Once the SRPreservations are established, the host 202 a may begin transmitting twostreams, stream A and stream B, onto the two paths 214 a and 214 b,respectively. Accordingly, the stream A and stream B may compriseessentially the same multimedia content, but may be communicated to thehost 202 b over different network paths. In this regard, the streamsmay, for example, differ in packet headers and/or dropped/corruptedpackets.

The host 202 b may receive the two streams and may identify the streams,for example, utilizing the unique stream ID. Accordingly, the host 202 bmay enable utilizing one stream as a primary stream and the other streamas a supplemental stream. For example, the host 202 b may decide toutilize the stream A as the primary stream and may only utilize contentfrom stream B when data comprising stream A is missing or corrupted.Accordingly, if a packet is missing from stream A, the host 202 b mayenable replacing the lost data with the corresponding redundant datacomprising stream B. In this manner, as long as the same data is notlost from both streams A and B, the host 202 b may be able to fullyreconstruct/render the multimedia content without any loss of quality.Similarly, if there is a failure along network path 214 a, the host 202b may enable recognizing the failure and may enable utilizing stream Bas the primary data stream. In this manner, a complete loss of a datastream may have little or no impact on the multimedia content presentedto a user by the host 202 b. In this regard, sequencing informationcomprising the streams may be utilized to detect lost packets and/ordata.

In reconstructing/rendering the multimedia content from the two datastreams, the host 202 b may utilize one or more timing parameters knownfor the network to ensure that lost and/or otherwise compromised packetswill not impact the user experience. For example, if nodes along networkpaths 214 a and 214 b adhere to a standard such as IEEE 802.1Qav, thenlatencies may be guaranteed for each of the paths 214 a and 214 b.Accordingly, a minimum buffer size in the host may be determined, forexample, based on the maximum and minimum delays in the network. Toexplain, if stream A is primary and arrives 10 ms before stream B, thenat least 10 ms of stream A may need to be buffered. In this manner, if apacket is lost from stream A, the corresponding packet will arrive onstream B before the buffer under-runs and the packet is required to berendered/presented. Maximum and/or minimum delays may factor into or beassociated with path costs and may be determined when discovering thenetwork topology. Although only two network paths are illustrated, theinvention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, additionalnetwork, paths may be utilized to provide additional resilience tonetwork failures.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) networkcomprising AVB enabled and non-AVB enabled nodes, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown two endsystems 302 a and 302 b, a plurality of AVB enabled nodes 308, and anon-AVB enabled node 310.

The end systems 302 a and 302 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable transmitting and/or receiving data over anetwork utilizing AVB protocols. In this regard, the end systems 302 aand 302 b may be similar to or the same as the AVB enabled audio/videoequipment 100 and 202 described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2,respectively.

The AVB enabled nodes 308 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable transmitting and/or receiving data over a networkutilizing AVB protocols. In this regard, the AVB enabled nodes 308 maybe similar to or the same as the AVB enabled audio/video equipment 100and 202 described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively.

The non-AVB enabled node 310 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable transmitting and/or receiving data over anetwork. In this regard, the non-AVB enabled nodes 308 may be aconventional network node, such as a bridge, switch, or router. Invarious instances, the non-AVB enabled node 310 may be similar to thenodes 308 but may have AVB networking disabled via, for example,software or firmware configuration.

The network path 306 may comprise the least cost path between the endsystems 302 a and 302 b. In this regard, the path 306 may be an optimalnetwork path for non-AVB traffic between the end systems 302 a and 302b.

The network path 304 may comprise the least cost AVB enabled pathbetween the end systems 302 a and 302 b. In this regard, the path 306may be an optimal network path for AVB traffic between the end systems302 a and 302 b. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the path306 may be the path 214 a or the path 214 b of FIG. 2.

In various embodiments of the invention, AVB compatibility may befactored into link cost. For example, by assigning non-AVB links ahigher link cost, aspects of the invention may enable setting apreference for AVB enabled paths.

In the network 300, each of the end systems 302 and the nodes 308 and310, may be enabled to discover the topology of the network 300. In thisregard, aspects of the invention may enable discovering possible pathsbetween the nodes 302 a and 302 b. Furthermore, among the discoveredpaths, a least cost path between and/or a least cost AVB enabled pathmay be identified. To determine or learn AVB compatibility of networknodes, the AVB traffic may be monitored. In one example, the nodes 308and the end systems 302 may identify AVB traffic and parse the sourceaddress of the traffic to identify AVB enabled nodes. In anotherexample, SRP registration and/or reservation packets may be monitoredand/or processed to identify AVB enabled nodes. Additionally, todetermine or discover the topology of the network 300, Bridge ProtocolData Units (BPDU) may be exchanged by the nodes 308 and 310. In oneembodiment of the invention, the BPDU's may be modified to comprise AVBcompatibility information for a node. In another embodiment of theinvention, BPDUs may be followed and/or preceded by other controlpackets which convey AVB compatibility for a node. Accordingly, one ormore routing tables and/or other databases may be created and/or updatedbased on received AVB traffic and/or received BPDUs.

In an exemplary operation, the end system 302 b may request a videostream from the end system 302 a. Accordingly, network resources may bereserved over the path 304 to provide a guaranteed quality of servicefor the video stream. Conversely, the end system 302 b may transmitgeneral traffic, an email or web traffic for example, via the path 306.Accordingly, general traffic may experience minimal delays and/orlatencies while AVB traffic may be provided guaranteed resources acrossa network.

FIG. 4 a is a diagram illustrating redundant paths for fault resiliencyin an AVB aware Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) network, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4 a there is shown anexemplary network 400 over which data may be communicated between thenodes 402 a and 402 b. In addition to the nodes 402 a and 402 b, thenetwork 400 may comprise one or more AVB enabled nodes 406, one or morenon-AVB enabled nodes 410, and a plurality of links 404.

The nodes 402 a and 402 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable transmitting and/or receiving data over a networkutilizing AVB protocols. In this regard, the nodes 402 a and 402 b maybe similar to or the same as the AVB enabled audio/video equipment 100,201, and 302 as described with respect to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3,respectively.

The AVB enabled nodes 408 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may enable transmitting and/or receiving data over a networkutilizing AVB protocols. In this regard, the AVB enabled nodes 308 maybe similar to or the same as the AVB enabled audio/video equipment 100,201, and 302 as described with respect to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3,respectively.

The non-AVB enabled node 410 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable transmitting and/or receiving data over anetwork. In this regard, the non-AVB enabled nodes 308 may be aconventionally network node, such as a bridge, switch, or router. Invarious instances, the non-AVB enabled node 410 may be similar to thenodes 408 but may have AVB networking disabled via, for example,software or firmware configuration.

The links 404 may comprise, for example, unshielded twisted pair cables,coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, and/or wireless connections.

In operation, each port of the nodes 402 may determine the topology ofthe network 400 in order to discover a least cost path between the nodes402 a and 402 b. In this regard, the topology of the network may bediscovered as described above with respect to FIG. 3. Accordingly, twopaths 408 a and 408 b between the nodes 402 a and 402 b may beestablished, and resources over those paths may be reserved fortransmitting a plurality of data streams, wherein one or more of thestreams redundant data, as described above with respect to FIG. 2. Inthis regard, the path 408 a may be the least cost path between node 402a port 2 and node 402 b port 2. Similarly, the path 408 b may be theleast cost path between node 402 a port 1 and node 402 b port 1.

In various aspects of the invention, once the two paths 408 a and 408 bhave been established, the path costs of each of the two paths may becompared. Based on this comparison, one path may be selected for use asa primary path and another path may be selected for use as a redundantpath. For example, the lower cost of the two paths may be chosen as theprimary path, while the higher cost path of the two may be the redundantpath. Additionally, the path costs determined for the paths 408 a and408 b may be utilized to determine necessary resources, such as buffersizes, for receiving redundant streams and preventing loss of dataquality in the event of a failure in the network.

FIG. 4 b is a diagram illustrating fault recovery in an AVB awareShortest Path Bridging (SPB) network, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. Referring to FIG. 4 b, there is shown a scenario wherelink 404 i of the network has failed.

In operation, prior to failure of the link 404 i, the node 402 a may betransmitting a primary stream via the path 408 a and a redundant streamvia the path 408 b. However, upon failure of the link 404 i, the streammay no longer reach node 402 b via the primary path 408 a. Accordingly,aspects of the invention may enable the node 402 b to recognize thefailure in the primary path, and to utilize the data received via theredundant path 408 b. In this manner, rendered/presented data at thenode 402 b may be unaffected by the failure of link 404 i. However, asubsequent failure in the path 408 b may result in a total loss of thestream, which depending on the situation of application, may havedisastrous consequences. Therefore, aspects of the invention may enablethe node 402 a to detect a network failure. Upon detecting a failure ofthe path 408 a, aspects of the invention may enable establishing a newredundant path, path 408 c, such that further failures may be protectedagainst. Accordingly, in addition to detecting least cost paths across anetwork, aspects of the invention may enable detecting alternate, highercost, paths across a network and utilizing those paths in the event of afailure.

In this regard, when discovering a network topology, a plurality ofpossible paths across a network, and costs associated with those paths,may be stored in a memory such as the memory 208 a. Hence, a networknode may reference the stored network topology information when choosinga path over which to transmit data. In this manner, storing multiplepath options in a memory may expedite the recovery process after anetwork failure since the nodes may not have to re-discover the networktopology.

Aspects of a method and system for fault resilience in Audio/VideoBridging (AVB) aware Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) networks are provided.In this regard, a path cost, which may be based at least on AVBcompatibility, may be determined for each network path, such as thepaths 304 and 306 of FIG. 3, discovered between a first network node anda second network node. Additionally, a plurality of network paths may beselected based on the determined path cost, and a plurality of networkconnections may be established over the selected plurality of networkpaths. Also, a plurality of data streams may be transmitted and/orreceived via the established network connections, wherein at least oneof data streams comprises data that is redundant to a first data stream.Furthermore, a primary data stream may be conveyed via a first networkconnection and one or more redundant data streams may be conveyed via asecond network connection. A network connection that is to be utilizedto convey a primary data stream may be selected based on said determinedpath cost. A routing table may be generated for the discovered networkpaths and may comprise the determined path costs and AVB compatibility.Upon failure of one or more of said chosen network paths, such asdescribed with respect to FIG. 4 b, an alternate network path may beselected from the routing table for establishing a new networkconnection. Aspects of the invention may enable assigning a first streamidentifier to a first of a plurality of data streams, and assigning anadditional unique stream identifier to each of the at least a second ofthe plurality of data streams that comprises data that is redundant tothe first of said plurality of data streams, wherein each of saidadditional unique stream identifiers differs from said first streamidentifier. The plurality of data streams may be buffered and/orprocessed based on sequencing information associated with the pluralityof data streams, and/or based on determined path costs.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readablestorage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least onecode section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine toperform the steps as described herein fault resilience in Audio/VideoBridging aware Shortest Path Bridging networks.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for networking, the method comprising: in a first networkdevice: selecting a plurality of network paths for establishing aplurality of network connections to a second network device, whereinsaid selecting is based on support of IEEE Audio Video Bridgingprotocols; establishing at least one of said plurality of connectionsover each of said selected network paths; and concurrently transmittingand/or receiving a plurality of data streams via said establishedplurality of network connections, wherein at least a second one of saidplurality of data streams comprises data that is redundant to a firstone of said plurality of data streams.
 2. The method according to claim1, comprising conveying a primary one of said plurality of data streamsvia a first of said plurality of network connections and conveying oneor more corresponding redundant data streams via at least a second oneof said plurality of network connections.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, comprising selecting one of said plurality of networkconnections that is to be utilized to convey a primary data stream basedon determined path costs of said plurality of network paths.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3, wherein links along said plurality ofnetwork paths that do not support Audio Video Bridging are assigned ahigher path cost than links along said plurality of network paths thatdo support Audio Video Bridging.
 5. The method according to claim 3,comprising generating a forwarding table for said plurality ofdiscovered network paths, wherein said generated forwarding tablecomprises said determined path costs and indicates which of saidplurality of discovered network paths is enabled to implement said AVBprotocols.
 6. The method according to claim 4, comprising, upon failureof one or more of said selected network paths, selecting from said tablean alternate network path for establishing a new network connection. 7.The method according to claim 1, comprising: assigning a first streamidentifier to said first of said plurality of data streams; andassigning an additional unique stream identifier to each of said atleast a second of said plurality of data streams that comprises datathat is redundant to said first of said plurality of data streams,wherein each of said additional unique stream identifier differs fromsaid first stream identifier.
 8. The method according to claim 1,wherein said first stream identifier is carried in a header field of oneor more packets of said first of said plurality of data streams.
 9. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising buffering and/or processing saidplurality of data streams based on said determined path costs.
 10. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein one or more of said plurality ofnetwork paths comprises one or more wired links, one or more wirelesslinks, or a combination of one or more wired and wireless links.
 11. Asystem for networking, the method comprising: one or more circuits foruse in a first network device, said one or more first circuits beingoperable to: select a plurality of network paths for establishing aplurality of network connections to a second network device, whereinsaid selecting is based on support of IEEE Audio Video Bridgingprotocols; establish at least one of said plurality of connections overeach of said selected network paths; and concurrently transmit and/orreceive a plurality of data streams via said established plurality ofnetwork connections, wherein at least a second one of said plurality ofdata streams comprises data that is redundant to a first one of saidplurality of data streams.
 12. The system according to claim 11, whereinsaid one or more circuits are operable to convey a primary one of saidplurality of data streams via a first of said plurality of networkconnections and conveying one or more corresponding redundant datastreams via at least a second one of said plurality of networkconnections.
 13. The system according to claim 11, wherein said one ormore circuits are operable to select one of said plurality of networkconnections that is to be utilized to convey a primary data stream basedon determined path costs of said plurality of network paths.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 13, wherein links along said plurality ofnetwork paths that do not support Audio Video Bridging are assigned ahigher path cost than links along said plurality of network paths thatdo support Audio Video Bridging.
 15. The system according to claim 13,wherein said one or more circuits are operable to generate a forwardingtable for said plurality of discovered network paths, wherein saidgenerated forwarding table comprises said determined path costs andindicates which of said plurality of discovered network paths is enabledto implement said AVB protocols.
 16. The system according to claim 14,wherein said one or more circuits are operable to, upon failure of oneor more of said selected network paths, select from said table analternate network path for establishing a new network connection. 17.The system according to claim 11, wherein said one or more circuits areoperable to: assign a first stream identifier to said first of saidplurality of data streams; and assign an additional unique streamidentifier to each of said at least a second of said plurality of datastreams that comprises data that is redundant to said first of saidplurality of data streams, wherein each of said additional unique streamidentifier differs from said first stream identifier.
 18. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein said first stream identifier is carriedin a header field of one or more packets of said first of said pluralityof data streams.
 19. The system according to claim 11, wherein said oneor more circuits are operable to buffer and/or process said plurality ofdata streams based on said determined path costs.
 20. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein one or more of said plurality of networkpaths comprises one or more wired links, one or more wireless links, ora combination of one or more wired and wireless links.